West Coast Avengers [2024] #2 - Marvel Comics

WEST COAST AVENGERS No. 2, February 2025

Whilst parts of this twenty-page periodical may strike some within its audience as being a little rough around the edges, Gerry Duggan’s script for Issue Two of “West Coast Avengers” certainly should have held their attention. Indeed, the comic contains a genuinely enthralling mixture of pulse-pounding pugilism and dysfunctional super-team dynamics, as Iron Man’s squad face-off against an international arms smuggling ring and Firestar “officially joins” the "Wackos"; “All right. I admit I have a thing about robots at the moment. But… Why are you trusting Ultron.?!”

Furthermore, the book initially provides Spider-Woman with a significant amount of ‘screentime’, and this really helps sell the covert operative background to Jessica Drew’s colourfully costumed alter-ego, before she then just brutally batters Flag Smasher and his minions aboard Grant Rogers’ re-papered sea vessel. Such an insight proves a great reminder to the reader as to the character’s lengthy background, and also helps inject some humour into the tense situation by showing how grossed out she becomes when the lecherous Blue Bolt pays some interest in her.

Equally as enjoyable however is this book’s much more sedentary second-half, which focuses upon Angelica Jones’ arrival at the Los Angeles Avengers Campus. There’s a very clear suggestion in this publication that all is not what it seems with Tony Stark’s supposed “A-List Hero”, and her extreme overreaction upon first encountering the former, would-be world conqueror Ultron, does not bode well for whichever reformed villain Chris Claremont’s co-creation is meant to be mentoring.

Unfortunately, the same praise can not be heaped upon the interior artwork of this comic due to some occasional, jarringly weak pencilling by Danny Kim. There is no doubt that the illustrator can create some dynamic, adrenalin-fuelled moments with his drawing – such as when Spider-Woman singlehandedly takes down a helicopter crammed full of heavily-armed goons. Yet, every now and then, a panel or two will look disconcertingly amateurish at best, like one picture where an exasperated Stark is shown clasping his hands to the sides of his head. Sadly, such sketches will undoubtedly snatch any perusing bibliophile straight out of the moment, and make them question just how much time the creative team were given before this particular title was thrown together.

The regular cover art of "WEST COAST AVENGERS" #2 by Ben Harvey

Absolute Carnage: Lethal Protectors #3 - Marvel Comics

ABSOLUTE CARNAGE: LETHAL PROTECTORS No. 3, December 2019

As pulse-pounding, ultra-violent last minute rescues go, it’s fair to say that Frank Tieri’s screenplay for Issue Three of “Absolute Carnage: Lethal Protectors” probably hit the mark for most of this comic’s 31,627 strong audience in October 2019. In fact, this twenty-page periodical’s plot is almost too relentless in its action, as the likes of Deathlok, Morbius and Iron Fist embark upon so serious an over-the-top murdering spree of viciously-fanged doppelgängers that even Sylvester Stallone’s media franchise Rambo would blush at the overall kill count; “Now hand me one of those guns, will ya?”

Interestingly however, despite the formidable firepower at their disposal, the “MarvelFest NYC 2009” event celebrity guest still manages to make this book’s protagonists appear surprisingly vulnerable, and at one stage even looks set to have at least one of the superheroes fatally fall before the relentless innumerable minions of Carnage. Such a sense of palpable mortality is debatably somewhat rare for titular characters in the Modern Age of Comics, so Danny Rand’s decision to summon the “quasi-mystical force” he commands in a last minute bid to save the friends he’s purposely brought back together is arguably all the more impactive as a result.

Similarly as successful, albeit perhaps a little bit too clichéd, is Misty Knight’s tense confrontation with Man-Wolf and her desperately emotional plea for the former astronaut to break his homicidal ties with Cletus Kasady. Backed into a corner, defenceless and yet still superbly defiant, Mercedes never appears to give up, even though the one-armed private detective is never more than a hair’s breadth from having her face bitten off by John Jameson’s symbiote-infected alter-ego.

Unfortunately though, once Tieri’s sense-shattering shenanigans do subside, courtesy of Cloak simply whisking the entire team out of harm’s way with a swish of his all-consuming cape, this comic’s conclusion does come as something of a disappointment; especially once it becomes clear that this entire mini-series was actually about Knight’s somewhat drawn-out rescue and Man-Wolf’s ultimate redemption rather than following the exploits of Iron Fist’s super-squad full-time. Debriefed by a “secret, shadowy organisation”, a disconcertingly inconsistent Flaviano pencils an irate Rand deciding to return to defeat Carnage once and for all just as the publication comes to a close with the frustrating words “To be continued in Absolute Carnage #5!”

‘First published on the "Dawn of Comics" website.'

The regular cover art of "ABSOLUTE CARNAGE: LETHAL PROTECTORS" No. 3 by Iban Coello & Jason Keith

Absolute Carnage: Lethal Protectors #2 - Marvel Comics

ABSOLUTE CARNAGE: LETHAL PROTECTORS No. 2, November 2019

Despite selling almost nine thousand copies less than its previous instalment, Frank Tieri’s narrative for Issue Two of “Absolute Carnage: Lethal Protectors” must still have pleased the majority of its 34,372 readers in September 2019, courtesy of its much-appreciated spotlight upon Misty Knight and inclusion of Iron Fist, Deathlok, Firestar, Morbius, Cloak and Dagger. Indeed, considering that this mini-series is supposedly about Cletus Kasady’s resurrection “by a cult dedicated to the worship of Knull” and subsequent bonding “to the deific primordial Grendel”, this particular twenty-page periodical is infinitely more focused upon the storyline’s heroes banding together so as to face a common threat than the notorious serial killer’s hunt for “everyone who ever bonded to a symbiote.”

Fortunately however, the Brooklyn-born writer’s ability to pen plenty of engaging dialogue, even when its somewhat limited to the likes of Mercedes mentally talking to herself as she covertly shuffles her way through a doppelgänger-infested sewer system, more than makes up for an arguable lack of action, and debatably produces plenty of tension amongst this comic’s cast once Henry Hayes arrives, having “had to shoot somebody on the way over.” Of course, all these discussions and heated disagreements doesn’t mean that this book is completely devoid of action either, as Danny Rand alone demonstrates just how powerful a punch he can throw when he intercepts a transformed Ravencroft inmate from devouring a bunch of hapless children innocent playing in the street.

But the American author certainly seems to use the publication’s plot to carefully position his pieces for an upcoming calamitous confrontation, rather than simply pack it full of artist Flaviano pencilling numerous panels containing pulse-pounding pugilism. In fact, Tieri even seems to find the time to craft “Lord Carnage” providing his Venomanics with a splash-page summary of past events as to John Jameson’s many failures concerning Knight’s incarceration; “Yeah, you captured her when she was sent in to investigate Doverton. But then…”

Perhaps therefore this comic’s only real disappointment is the lamentably abrupt end Frank brings to Misty’s edgy exploration of the deadly catacombs beneath the Ravencroft Institute. The one-armed special agent’s ability to survive her perilous environment, made all the more impressive when she bests a pair of blood-drenched doppelgängers with nothing more than a severed limb, nobly demonstrates the former private investigator’s remarkable grit and tenacity. So it comes as something of a pity these engrossingly impressive trials are cut all-too short by a frenzied Man-Wolf.

‘First published on the "Dawn of Comics" website.'

The regular cover art of "ABSOLUTE CARNAGE: LETHAL PROTECTORS" No. 2 by Iban Coello & Jason Keith